260 Gait of the American Trotter and Pacer 



very many pacers, there has been enough evidence among the few 

 whose gaits were investigated and changed to make the application of 

 the same general principles as rational as with the gait of the trotter. 

 As far as the shoeing is concerned I can not, therefore, offer any sim- 

 ilar examples of the effects of conditions that prevailed in the experi- 

 ments with the trotters, but in the next chapter the pacing gait will be 

 considered to a limited extent when the bothersome single- footing 

 appears as the connecting link between the two gaits of the standard 

 horse. 



Warning has already been given against too many changes at one 

 time with the idea of effecting a ready remedy once for all. Many of 

 my experiments were not free from this error, because the impatience 

 of others and the lack of time for development urged me to do so. 

 Balance, however, is a matter of slow evolution, especially where any 

 faults of comformation exist ; and if permanently beneficial results are 

 sought time remains the biggest factor of the work. 



Although the considerations of this chapter on the length of toe 

 and the height of heel, or rather the angle of the foot, follow those on 

 the motion of the horse and the weight and shape of the shoe, they are 

 given rather as a review of the whole subject in hand. Great stress 

 must be laid on the prime importance of the foot of the horse. The 

 subject has, however, been treated so fully by its originator, David 

 Roberge, that little can be added to its main features. 



There is one point of practice which seems to stand forth promi- 

 netly in every word of that master of the forge. For, not only was he 

 master at the forge, but he was master on the floor as well, and this bids 

 me voice my own view on the usual way of shoeing, namely, of leaving 

 the most important part of the work the leveling and adjusting of the 

 hoof to someone else, commonly known as the floorman. Any good 

 mechanic can turn out a good shoe, but only a good farrier can fit the 

 shoe to the foot and prepare the foot to receive it. One man should do 

 the whole job, or at least superintend it properly, because two men 

 working separately cannot do good work. One unnecessary lick of the 

 rasp will often spoil the nicety of adjustment to effect balance. 



The many experiments with unequal conditions, due in part to un- 



